How do I choose between Blurb's printer in the Netherlands and the US?
Dear forum members, I assume it’s possible somewhere in the ordering process to indicate where I want to have my book printed. 1. Could anyone please tell me how to choose between Blurb’s different printer locations? Some related side questions I also have:
2. In choosing Europe printer, does that mean I need to adjust my book-settings for A-4 papersize instead of the standaard US size? (in case of a portrait book) 3. Is there any way to find out which printer location (at ordering time) is able to produce the books the quickest, given their current capacity? Thank you in advance for any help Maarten
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Maarten,
Although, I am not European resident as you are, but there are other European residents who use Blurb BookSmart and got their book published. They will confirm this with you, it is matter of time and how often they log on to Blurb Forums anytime now and for next couple of days, I believe.
As for your first question, “Could anyone please tell me how to choose between Blurb’s different printer locations?”
No, you have no control over this. Once you place an order online, it is a done deal with POD (Print On Demand) system. It is automated system to process your book files and goes to sub-contractor somewhere in Europe. I can’t remember where was it done, I believe in Dutch. I could be wrong.
As for your third question, “Is there any way to find out which printer location (at ordering time) is able to produce the books the quickest, given their current capacity?”
That is hard to say. It all depends on sub-contractor’s capacity to get your book(s) published. It depends on factors, I believe.
If you want some specific assistance from Blurb Team, please submit Order Support, here:
http://www.blurb.com/help/order_support
Hope that helps.
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Hi again Maarten! I live in UK, so let me have a go , no conflict with what Brian has said though. 1. You do not get a chance to choose. Blurb’s automated process decides where to print based on an assortment of factors, one being where you are having them delivered to, another being the size of the book I believe. Most books ordered from Europe get printed in Holland, mine have been so far. 2. Blurb just offer three sizes 7" x 7", 10" x 8" (portrait and landscape) and 13" x 11" (again portrair and landscape) . Neither American Letter or ISO A4 are offered so no need for you to make any adjustments for the printing location. 3. No facilities for you to find that out I’m afraid, though I like the idea :-) ............Tony
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Brian, Tony, Ok, thank you for your clear answers. (Tony, do you perhaps actually live within in these forums, you must be Blurb’s nr 1 fan :-) ) Your answers do raise some issues, however (I live in The Netherlands): 1. If Blurb’s automated process decides printing location based on x variables, it would mean that shipping costs should be similarly variable-based, and not fixed as they appear to be now. Shipping from US to the Netherlands of course being more expensive than shipping from within the Netherlands. For example, I ordered a test copy of my book (USD 34,95) and wanted shipped asap (USD 22,85). Since it appears to be shipped from the Netherlands to me in The Netherlands the shipping costs are much to expensive. I’ll contact customer service directly re. my specific issue 2. When I decide to order 50 copies of my finalized book, I can only assume it will be printed in the Netherlands. But I will never know it 100%. If I knew it, it would allow met to make more informed choices re shipment options (i.e. costs vs required deadlines for the books to be here). This is an important issue, given the significant cost of shipment 3. I had (wrongly apparently) assumed that choosing the currency of one’s order (GBP, USD, EUR) correlated with the location of the actual printing. This not being the case, it is then always better to order in USD because my credit card company will have better currency rates than Blurb provides (USD vs EUR that is) Regards, Maarten
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Maarten, I’d don’t quite live here! I’m retired, working on three books now, so each time I go to work in BookSmart I check the forums first. It’s got to become a habit, probably a bad one :-) As the summer comes on and the weather improves I’ll be less inclined to be sitting at my computer processing photos, so you’ll see less of me then. Plus when I started my first book last year I got so much help from others, I sort of want to pass that on to the next generation of bookmakers. I don’t think the pricing is fixed. Have you tried the shipping calculator? http://www.blurb.com/shipping_calculator I just re-did the calculation for my book that is in for printing, the UPS shipping costs to deliver that to The Netherlands is half that quoted for delivery to the UK – that sounds reasonable. I find with UPS Standard it gets to my door in the UK the next business day, or at most two days so I haven’t bothered with UPS Express. But I agree with you on costs, compared to Amazon the shipping prices are way too high :-( .........Tony
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Tony, I agree, the help from forum members is invaluable. There are so many tips/tricks to make a book better. Re shipping, it looks like I need to do my homework better. Good luck with your three books! Maarten
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Maarten,
I would think the credit card information on the account funded by financial institution or credit card provider, and that Blurb secure eCommerce authorize and compare the info. Once the system authorized the order and processed your order, again I would think that itself determines the nearest location of sub-contractor near you is possible a factor. However, I could be wrong.
I would think it is best for you to contact Blurb Team customer service to discuss about large quantity of book order (50 books that you mentioned), I would think they would be able to help you. I cannot promise you anything, because I am just like you or Tony as Blurb customer/bookmaker/forum participant.
As for shipping-related topic, as I am moving to Canada from New York in few weeks. I am a little concerned about the situation going on with some strange, interesting and some kind of conflicting stories among Canadian Blurb bookmakers has experienced with UPS deliveries. Some of them being slapped with additional fees with so-called brokerage fees. Some do not get brokerage fess at the time of deliveries. I would think it depends on valuation of book order in itself. However, I would think I probably get a better answer from Blurb customer service once I am relocated to my new residence address in Toronto after June 1st. I dislike some kind of surprises or something like that.
Anyways, have a great weekend.
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